Sale of Boston Marathon medals on EBay angers manufacturer

Want a 2013 Boston Marathon medal? You can find them on the Internet. (Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA )

There are some people who will try to find a way to make monetary gain from a tragedy. The aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings is no different. At the time of this posting, seven people are selling their 2013 Boston Marathon medals on EBay, with various pitches to entice people to buy. This has caused outrage in some who feel these sellers are trying cash in on the tragedy of the bombings last week.

One seller lists his medal with a pitch that includes: "2013 Official Boston Marathon Finishers Medal given only to qualified runners who finished before the bombing took place."

Of the seven currently listed on EBay, only three mention anything about donating the money to any of the various charities set up to help support the victims of the bombings. One says he will donate all the proceeds, the others say they will donate half of the proceeds. The other four apparently intend to keep all the money.

Dan Ashworth, whose company makes the medals, is one of those who is unhappy.

"Our company has been manufacturing the marathon medallions for 31 years. I’ve been very involved with the race since I was a kid. My dad started working with them when I was a kid, so it means a lot to us. Now that we’re seeing some of the medals being sold on EBay, it’s kind of disgusting, in my eyes,” Ashworthtold WPIX-TV in Boston.

"Why would you want it? You go out and run a marathon and that’s a personal goal in your life to run a marathon. That’s something that you achieve personally, why would you want to go out and buy a medal? Just to remember the tragedy?"